Canada and the Good Folks of Nova Scotia
August 14, 2009
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| Goldenrod |
As we were tooling along the Trans-Canadian Highway through Nova Scotia, a fellow pulled up beside us and made a series of hand signals indicating something wrong with our tires, wheels or something. He pulled off onto the shoulder in front of us and came back with an explanation. "Your hubcap came off just before the toll booth."
I thanked him profusely! The hubcaps on our motorhome cost beaucoup dollars and losing one can be a painful proposition. We had traveled maybe 5 miles from the toll booth when our new friend caught up and stopped us. So, we would be traveling about 10 miles out of the way to go back to find our hubcap. Was it really worth the time and diesel? We decided that because of the value of the hubcap and an idea that there was really a good chance of finding it, maybe it was worth going back.
But then we wondered if we could convince the toll booth operator to let us through without charging us another $5.25 toll. I explained the situation to the fellow in the toll booth. He phoned somebody and got permission to let us through without any additional charge. "You may turn around in the next crossover, but park well off the highway -- it's dangerous out there."
"You're a good man," I said.
We drove maybe 100 yards from the toll booth and the hubcap appeared in plain sight. I parked in the crossover and walked back along the freeway and with considerable relief -- picked up my valued hubcap.
On this trip, we have probably spent more time traveling on smaller, secondary highways than on Interstates and freeways. We prefer the slower pace, smaller towns, and scenery along these roads. But, the price is that they are often rougher and contain more potholes. On this same trip, we were driving a small, rough Louisiana highway when I hit a hidden pothole. I happened to look out my rearview mirror in time to see one of my hubcaps roll into the ditch. We found a place to pull off the road and after a short search, found it.
So now, we have lost 2 hubcaps on this trip and have found them both. We are very lucky and are considering our hubcap strategy for the remainder of this trip. Should we take them all off and store them? Or, should I make a point to check them all every morning to see if they are loose?
But whatever we decide, we are still amazed by the kindness of strangers. The fellow who alerted us to the fact that we had lost a hubcap had little to gain from his actions. He was maybe in his 60's and knew the approximate value of our lost RV hubcap. He apparently took the time to inform us of our loss because it was just the right thing to do.
Yes, there are some truly evil folks in this world, but the psychopaths seem to be in a small minority. In all our years of RVing, we have never been robbed or attacked. Lucky? Of course. But, we also avoid dangerous places.
I like to think that there are just lots of good folks in this world, who are willing to take the time to help out their fellow man. We met three of them during this event. The man who informed us of our loss, the fellow in the toll booth that did not charge us on our return trip and the fellow in the other toll booth who just laughed when he recognized us as we passed through his booth the second time. "Traveling in circles?" he asked as he waved us through.
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